AFCON
Super Eagles at AFCON: Losing is part of the game
BY FEMI ADESINA
Soccer-loving Nigerians were heartbroken last Sunday when the Super Eagles of Nigeria could not fly higher than the Carthage Eagles of Tunisia in the second round match of the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament holding in Cameroon.
Nigerians were full of expectations. The Super Eagles players were confident. President Muhammadu Buhari had done what the father of the nation should do, engaging in a video conference earlier in the day to ginger the players. Alas, Nigeria lost the game by a lone goal, and exited the tournament.
Nobody likes to lose in a keen contest, whether political, economic, domestic, professional, or in sports. Winning is exhilarating, gives a feel-good sensation, and generally sends the adrenaline pumping. But you know what? Losing is part of the game. Any game, all games. We may comfort ourselves by saying no victor, no vanquished, but the real truth is that somebody loses. A team loses. It is ineluctable.
I follow football a lot, and apart from our local and national teams, I also pay attention to the English Premiership League (EPL), where Manchester City currently leads its closest rival, Liverpool FC by nine points.
In October, Man City had been beaten 2-0 by less fancied Crystal Palace, and right at Etihad Stadium, home base of the league leaders. It was something akin to sacrilege.
Pep Guardiola is possibly the best coach in the world today, and handles Manchester City. When he was interviewed after the Crystal Palace debacle, he just shrugged, and said; “Losing is part of the game.” True.
We want to win at all times. We don’t want to be worsted, or have our nose bloodied at all. But life is not so. You win some, and you lose some. That was what happened to Nigeria last Sunday, though rather painfully.
I have read many silly, idiotic and imbecilic comments, trying to link the loss to the video conference the President had with the players on Sunday morning. Witless. Thoughtless. And incidentally, if the Super Eagles had gone into the match without encouragement from their President, the same people would have come out to condemn the leader of the country for being taciturn and insensitive. Head or tail, you never win with some Nigerians.
There are countries, and football teams, who have established a tradition for being outstanding in soccer. But such teams and countries have lost scandalously before, underscoring the truth that losing is part of the game.
We have talked about Man City and the loss to Crystal Palace. After that week, they went ahead to win the next 12 EPL games, and the fairy tale run did not end till last Saturday, when they played 1-1 away to Southampton FC. You win some, you lose some.
Football can be cruel at times. There can be a humiliation of the brightest and best, but it does not mean the end of the beautiful game. After falling, you get up, dust your pants, and move on, waiting for another day. “It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up,” says renowned American football coach, Vince Lombardi.
Now, see a few checklist of humiliations of great soccer playing teams and nations, and see whether it calls for the otiose politicking, as we saw with some Nigerians earlier this week.
AC Milan and Real Madrid are super powers in football. But at the semi final of the European Cup in 1989, Milan handed a 5-0 trouncing to Madrid.
In the run up to winning the European Champions League last year, Bayern Munich crushed the great Barcelona FC 8-2. The defeated team included world’s best, Lionel Messi.
Argentina is a super power in soccer. But in a 2009 World Cup qualifier, it lost 1-6 to Bolivia. Scandalous!
Brazil, possibly the best soccer playing country in the world, hosted the World Cup in 2014. They had reached the semi final, and were clear favorites to lift the trophy. They met Germany, and got thumped 7-1. Outrageous! Well, losing is part of the game.
Argentina, under the legendary Diego Maradona lost a World Cup game to Germany 4-0. France beat Brazil 3-0 at France ‘98. The old Czechoslovakia trounced Argentina 6-1 before, England slumped to Hungary 3-6 at Wembley Stadium, their home base, while Portugal fell 0-10 to England at Lisbon in 1953. Spain beat Germany 6-0 in 2020. I say it again: losing is part of the game.
One thing was clear from the way the Super Eagles played their firs three matches at AFCON. The German Technical Adviser, Gernot Rohr, should have been fired long ago. He contributed nothing to Nigerian soccer. The team played better under the tutelage of home based Augustine Eguavoen. As the Sports and Youth Development Minister, Sunday Dare, has said, the team “faced the challenge bravely and gave a good account of themselves.”
On those making mischievous political capital out of the loss, the Minister rightly said: “We, as a nation win together, and we lose together. Sports is a unifying factor and those that seek to use it as vectors of division, targeting players with hate speech and making irresponsible statements should rise above such behavior. We are much better than that as a people.”
The best players in the world-Pele, Maradona, Johan Cruyff, Messi, Ronaldo, etc have lost, and still lose matches. Under Muhammadu Buhari as military head of state, we won our first Under 17 global trophy in 1985. In this dispensation, we have won the same trophy twice. So, why do the heathens rage, and the people imagine vain things?
“Winning is not everything-but making the EFFORT to win is,” says Lombardi. Super Eagles made the effort to win, encouraged by their President, but they lost. Sad. But that is how it is, till another day. Losing is an inevitable part of the game.
*Adesina is Special Adviser to President Buhari on Media and Publicity
South Africa head coach Hugo Broos has delivered a strong critique of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) following its controversial decision to strip Senegal of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) title and award it to Morocco.
The ruling, delivered two months after Senegal’s 1-0 extra-time victory in Rabat, has sparked widespread backlash across the continent, with Senegal already preparing an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Reacting to the decision, Broos questioned CAF’s consistency and timing, describing the situation as unfair to Senegal.
“What I can say is CAF have shown again there is no consistency in decisions,” he said.
“It is painful for Senegal to lose the trophy. There is a rule that if you leave the pitch, you forfeit the game, and it’s done. But why don’t you [CAF] do it earlier, instead of waiting for two months?”
Broos stressed that while the rules may justify sanctions, the delayed enforcement undermines credibility.
“Sometimes, you don’t even have to wait for a complaint… the rules are there,” he added, suggesting CAF should have acted immediately after the incident rather than revisiting the outcome long after the final whistle.
He also pointed to broader inconsistencies in football governance, citing a separate case involving South Africa during the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, where sanctions were applied months after the fact despite procedural timelines requiring prompt complaints.
“I have said it before that you must be consistent with decisions. It’s painful for Senegal, and they could have done it much earlier,” Broos said.
The controversy stems from Senegal’s brief walk-off during the final in protest over a penalty decision. Although the team returned to complete the match and secured victory, CAF’s Appeals Board later ruled that the action constituted a forfeiture, awarding Morocco a 3-0 win.
Meanwhile, respected journalist Osasu Obayiuwana has intensified scrutiny on the officiating of the match, alleging that Olivier Safari Kabene may have improperly influenced referee Jean-Jacques Ngambo Ndala during the game.
He questioned why no disciplinary action has been taken and why both officials remain in their positions, further fuelling concerns about governance within CAF.
CAF president Patrice Motsepe has defended the independence of the Appeals Board, even as criticism mounts over what many observers describe as an unprecedented decision in African football.
With Senegal set to challenge the ruling legally and voices like Broos calling for consistency and transparency, the AFCON title saga continues to cast a shadow over the credibility of African football administration.
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The fallout from the controversial 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final between Morocco and Senegal has taken a decisive legal turn, with sports law experts insisting that the Confederation of African Football (CAF) acted within established regulations in awarding Morocco a 3–0 default victory.
The decision followed Senegal’s temporary withdrawal from the pitch in protest against a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) ruling—an action CAF deemed a breach of competition rules.
Clear Rule, Predictable Outcome
According to media and sports lawyer Patrick Rode, the case represents a “textbook application” of football regulations rather than an arbitrary administrative decision.
Under CAF competition rules, specifically Articles 82 and 84, any team that refuses to continue play or leaves the field without the referee’s consent is automatically considered to have forfeited the match.
In such cases, the standard sanction is unequivocal: 3–0 default loss.
This principle aligns with broader FIFA disciplinary frameworks, where “refusal to play” triggers automatic consequences, leaving little room for interpretation.
Why CAF’s Decision Stands Firm
From a strictly legal standpoint, the ruling appears difficult to overturn for three key reasons:
- Clear Violation: Senegal’s act of leaving the pitch constitutes an undisputed breach of the rules.
- Mandatory Sanction: The 3–0 forfeiture is not discretionary but explicitly prescribed.
- No Legal Ambiguity: The regulations leave no grey areas for subjective interpretation.
As Rode succinctly puts it, “emotion does not equal law.”
Even if Senegal had been leading or had already celebrated victory, such contextual factors hold no weight once a fundamental rule breach is established.
CAS Appeal: Slim Chances, Strategic Arguments
Senegal’s Football Federation is expected to challenge the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the highest authority in global sports dispute resolution.
However, CAS typically intervenes only under limited conditions, including:
- * Procedural irregularities
- * Arbitrary decision-making
- *Disproportionate sanctions
None of these thresholds appears immediately evident in this case.
That said, Senegal’s legal team may attempt to build arguments around:
- Match Continuity: If play resumed after the protest, does a full forfeiture remain proportionate?
- Officiating Responsibility: Could confusion involving the referee and VAR mitigate Senegal’s culpability?
These points could form the crux of the appeal, though they face an uphill legal battle.
Sport vs Law: An Inevitable Clash
The controversy highlights a recurring tension in modern football—where emotional, on-field realities collide with rigid regulatory frameworks.
While fans and players may view the outcome as harsh, legal systems in sport prioritise consistency and enforceability over sentiment.
With CAS proceedings expected in the coming months, the case is set to become a landmark reference in African football governance—testing not just CAF’s authority, but the balance between justice, discipline, and the spirit of the game.
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African football remains plagued by trust issues and questions over its integrity, Confederation of African Football president Patrice Motsepe said on Wednesday after Senegal was stripped of the Africa Cup of Nations title.
But he defended the decision of his organisation’s Appeal Board to award the Africa Cup of Nations title to Morocco after upholding their protest over the outcome of the January 18 final.
Senegal, who won the match 1-0 in Rabat, walked off for 14 minutes at the end of regulation time in protest of hosts Morocco being awarded a penalty, but returned to win in extra time.
While Morocco’s initial protest had been rejected by CAF’s Disciplinary Board, the same governing body’s Appeal Board found Senegal had transgressed tournament regulations by staging a walkoff and handed Morocco the title.
“I previously expressed my extreme disappointment with the incidents that took place at the final,” Motsepe said in a video statement released on Wednesday.
“It undermines the good work that CAF has done over many, many years to ensure that there’s integrity, there’s respect, there’s ethics, there’s governance, as well as the credibility of the results of our football matches.
“We are still dealing with suspicion and mistrust. It’s a legacy issue. When I became president, one of the major concerns was the impartiality, independence and the respect of referees and match commissioners, and a lot of good work has been done,” he insisted.
RESPECT AND INTEGRITY
Motsepe highlighted that both CAF’s disciplinary and appeal boards were independent bodies composed of legal practitioners selected with the assistance of member associations.
“It is important that the decisions of our Disciplinary Board and Appeals Board are viewed with respect and integrity,” he said.
“If you look at the composition of those bodies, they reflect some of the most respected lawyers and judges on the continent.
“But we will still have to deal with this perception and concerns about the integrity. It’s an ongoing issue.”
Motsepe, who was chosen as CAF president in 2021 and re-elected one year ago, said CAF was committed to fair play and denied there was any preferential treatment amid perceptions that Morocco have too much sway over the African game.
“I’m told that Senegal is going to appeal, which is very important. Every one of the 54 nations in Africa have a right to pursue appeals and we will adhere and respect the decision that’s taken at the highest level.
“A critical factor is that not a single country in Africa will be treated in a manner that is more preferential, or more advantageous, or more favourable than any other country on the African continent,” the South African billionaire mining magnate added.
-Reuters
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